I have not paid close attention to the Los Angeles Lakers this year. I may not have even if I were not 10,000 miles from Staples Center.

It became clear early that they were not going to be very good, and when Kobe Bryant’s brief return from Achilles surgery was interrupted by a broken leg, it became a certainty they would struggle. What with Steve Nash essentially useless and Pau Gasol in decline (or in a funk because his name is constantly in trade rumors).

But their bizarre, six-fouls-still-playing game last night in Cleveland got them back on my radar, for a moment, and prompted these two linked realizations.

–The Lakers presumably now realize they should never again pursue the “one last go-round” addition of big-name free agents in the hope that a bunch of (mostly) declining stars can somehow be really good. The long-term ramifications are too dire.

It failed in 2003-04, when they brought in the 40-year-old Karl Malone and the 35-year-old Gary Payton. They reached the finals, yes, but that was mostly because they had Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe in his prime. Payton was hurt much of the season, and Malone was, as noted, 40. The cohesive Detroit Pistons took them down in five games, Malone and Payton disappeared and the Lakers were lousy for two years.

And it failed more spectacularly in 2012-13, when Dwight Howard and Steve Nash came over. The first never fit into the team at all (and displaced Gasol in the process, and cost the club a second-round draft pick in 2015 and a first-rounder in 2017), and the second was perpetually hurt (and cost the club their 2015 first-round pick). The Lakers (without Kobe, granted) were swept in the first round of the playoffs by San Antonio, and then Howard left, and the Lakers didn’t much care.

Considering the roles and egos of guys who are (or were) elite players, you just don’t slap them together that deep into their careers. And the damage done by stripping the club of other assets, including draft picks and a competent bench, was far too damaging.

–The Lakers should just let this season run its sorry course, and finish in the lottery, and see if they can get a top pick. It is a strong draft, and at the moment only five teams in the league have won fewer games than the Lakers’ 17. (Unfortunately, their ridiculous starting five last night actually won that game; that would be Ryan Kelly, Wesley Johnson, Robert Sacre, Steve Blake and Jordan Farmar.)

They don’t have to “tank”, per se.

They could assure a ragged finish by taking two moves, neither of which would bring them much flak. Both of which are sensible.

The first is to make sure Kobe does not return this season. He probably shouldn’t, anyway, but his competitive fires are so hot that he will try to come back, and he might even help them win a game or two they would not otherwise have won. If they can stay at 20 wins or fewer, they could be in the top four of the lottery. Maybe the top two.

The second is to trade Pau Gasol for draft picks. The Lakers are missing a bunch of their own picks in coming years (see above). Phoenix, for example, could have as many as four first-rounders this year and their surprise rise in the West could convince them to trade a late-round No. 1 for Gasol. (It would help, though, if he — as opposed to Bryant — got back in the lineup as soon as possible and played well, ahead of the February 20 trade deadline.)

Holding out Kobe and trading Gasol should leave the Lakers with a team not good enough to beat much of anyone. Which at this point, is good.

We recognize that … even over on this side of the world.